Apple sorter and cleaner.



J. A. WALTERS. APPLE SORTER AND CLEANER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1B, 1913.

1,981,640. Patented Dec. 16, 1913.

N O Q f e 2 I e y CZ I l 7 i (z i m mm W j illlllll 4n 2 2 m 71? ,1 m l c Z. I 7 :7 2.:- -Z 7 c i E e u a W U flttomway extra mans ear JOSEPH A. WALTERS, OF POAGES MILL, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ROBERT L. FERGUSON, OF POAGES MILL, VIRGINIA.

APPLE SORTER AND CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 18, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. WALTERS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Poages Mill, county of Roanoke, and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apple Sorters and Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

Figure l is a side elevation, Fig. 2 a plan, and Fig. 3 a rear end elevation of my improved apparatus. Fig. 4: is a detailed transverse section on line 44 of Fig. 2.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple apparatus for separating foreign matters and culls from the apples dur ing the act of filling them into barrels or other receptacles, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

This apparatus is mounted upon four corner legs each of which consists of a depending bar aand another bar 7) clamped slidingly thereagainst to permit it to be vertically adjusted. The bars Z) rest upon the ground or floor and by reason of their vertical adjustability the inclination of the apparatus may be varied at will and the inequalities of the ground or floor on which the apparatus stands may be compensated for, to the end that the apparatus shall always be set at the proper angle to deliver the apples at the rear or lower end by gravity.

The leg adjusting devices consist of a pair of loops 0 pivotally embracing a clamping member a and so arranged that the weight of the apparatus causes the loops to automatically clamp the adjustable bar 6 at the adjustment point. The adjustable leg members 6 lie against the stationary leg members a practically their full length, whereby a high degree of strength and stability is obtained.

The frame of the apparatus consists of downwardly inclined separated slats d arranged in parallel relation and extending the full length of the apparatus. These slats are affixed to cross bars 6, the end ones of which are afiixed to the stationary leg members 0. Another cross board 7 is aflixed to the leg members a at the forward or upper end of the apparatus. Longitudinal side members 9 connect the leg members at each side, and these parts 9, together with the board f, form the downwardly inclined chute or trough whose bottom consists of the separated slats 0?. At the lower or rear end of the apparatus a pair of inclined boards it serve to direct the ap les to the center of the chute where they Wlll be delivered into a barrel or other receptacle. Brace boards 2' are located at the rear end and thereby serve to brace the inclined boards it.

On each side of the apparatus is formed a supplemental channel j, this channel being formed by the adjacent side board 9 and a series of boards or bars 70, together with suitable spacing blocks Z and a pair of bottom boards m, which incline from the opposite ends of the apparatus to a point at n where they are connected together by a bar or board 0, which extends across the apparatus and connects the bottom boards m on one side with the bottom boards m on the other side of the apparatus.

The channels y are open at their inner sides at a point below the screening members (Z so that any fruit that is placed in the channels j will by gravity roll down the bottom boards m and then inwardly to the boards at where they will be deposited on a supplemental chute whose spaced slats p are inclined in a direction opposite to the inclination of the slats cl so as to deliver the culled fruit at the forward end of the apparatus. The delivery end of this supplemental chute is contracted by a pair of guide boards 0 in a manner similar to the delivery end of the upper chute.

In the use of this apparatus the apples are dumped upon the screen slats d and allowed to roll down the same by gravity. As the apples drop down on the slats d the dirt and trash will be screened out and the culls will be picked out by hand by attendants standing at opposite sides of the apparatus and then dropped into the channels The dirt and trash will pass through the spaces between the slats p while the culls are allowed to roll down these slats and be deposited in a receptacle placedat the delivery end of the lower chute.

I claim In combination, a downwardly inclined screening table, an oppositely inclined supplemental screening table, a longitudinal channel extending along each side of said screening table, both said channels having inclined bottoms and being open at their inner sides so as to discharge the culled fruit In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my upon the lower screening table, said dissignature in the presence of two Witnesses. charge openings of the channels being Located at the upper end of the supplemental WALTERS 5 screening table, so as to discharge the culls Witnesses at that point irrespective of the point Where E. N. WOOD,

they are dropped into the channels, F. S T. SIMPsON.

09111:; of this patent my be ob 1-9.1 five cents. eaeh, by a re the Commissioner 9! fatent W hing on 9 

